Saturday, July 2, 2011

I know that Eric Church isn't an up-and-coming artist, but I promised in my very first post that I'd add in a few things from the stars every now and then. He's an incredible artist who blends rock and country together extremely well. So, here are my favorite Eric Church videos:

Friday, July 1, 2011

I came across The Civil Wars the first time when I was flipping through the channels and landed on GAC. Their video "Barton Hollow" was playing, and it completely caught my interest. Their sound is truly unique - kind of a mix of bluegrass, country, pop, and indie. Then, a coworker sent me a link to their cover of "Billie Jean," and that's all it took - I was hooked.

It's actually pretty interesting how the two met. Both of them attended a writing camp where about 20 musicians were attempting to come up with some singles for a country band. Joy's background was in pop, and John Paul's was in the country genre, but the two of them merged together after initially being drawn to each other's voice and musical abilities. If you'd like to read the in-depth story, you can read more about it in their biography on their website.

The stripped-down songs they play create a sense of intimacy between the duo and the audience. Acoustic music seems to always create that feeling, but John Paul and Joy's chemistry on-stage really sets the mood. Even though the two aren't married, they demonstrate every emotion passionately when they're performing, and you can truly see those emotions in their eyes. Love, sorrow, loneliness, hope... it's all there plus more!

I must say, though, that my favorite song of theirs is "Poison and Wine," which you can watch below. This song is so heartfelt and raw that I just can't get enough of it. It was featured on an episode of "Grey's Anatomy," and apparently it was played at a very climatic point in the episode. I can see why they chose that song to portray that feeling because it showcases true passion at its finest. The way the song starts out so soft and gentle and crescendos into the highlight of the song is just simply beautiful. Watch below if you haven't seen or heard it before:

Hey everyone! I'm Lauren, and I love good ole' southern-fried music. It's as simple as that.

Let me begin by giving you a little bit of my personal music background. I was born and raised in the northern part of Metro-Atlanta and have been playing instruments all of my life. I started playing piano officially when I was in 2nd grade and competed regionally and state-wide from my middle school years until I graduated from high school. I always wanted to learn new songs that sounded cool or had a lot of emotion behind them, but I really loved earning trophies or certificates for my competitions. When I first started taking lessons, the 60 point cup for the annual piano festival (where you're judged by other piano teachers around the region) seemed out-of reach; by the time I was a senior, though, it was in my hands with my name on it. Such a great feeling of accomplishment! I was classically trained, but my heart was really in ragtime and in mainstream music from the 1970s to now. Journey is my all-time favorite artist to play on the piano, but I also enjoy playing some Lady Antebellum, Elton John, Sugarland, and pretty much anything that has a piano riff in it.

Around my 8th grade year, I bought a drum set with my allowance money and taught myself to play. I was always told that if you learned how to play the piano proficiently first, you wouldn't have much difficulty picking up other instruments and learning how to play them pretty quickly. I felt like that was true because it didn't take long to figure out how to syncronize my hand movements with my foot movements to make some pretty sweet beats. I tell you, playing the drums was definitely a great way to beat out some frustration!

Then, around my 10th grade year, I found a mini-guitar that my grandfather gave me when I was in kindergarten or first grade and started to teach myself how to play it. That Christmas, I was able to talk my grandmother into buying me a full-sized electric guitar (lime green strat with pink knobs... girly, I know!) with an amp, and I haven't quit playing sense. The guitar fever set-in, so I hope to have a huge collection of guitars one day. There's just something about a guitar, though, that you really can't explain. It's such a beautiful instrument that has the capability to create so many various sounds, whether it's gorgeous melodies or hard-core rhythms. It's just... great.

So, basically, the purpose of this blog is to give you some insight on some up-and-coming artists in the country music industry. These artists may have had a break; some might not have had theirs yet. It's just a way to bring some additional exposure to those who deserve it. Now, I'm not saying that I know everything there is to know about music; that is definitely not the case. I just want to share my opinions on those artists and hopefully bring some great music to your ears!

Of course, I'll probably throw in some of my favorites from the famous artists every now and then. I mean, good music is good music!

In the mean time, have a great rest of the week, and I hope you enjoy reading my blog!